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The Raven in the Foregate

The Twelfth Chronicle of Brother Cadfael

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The Raven in the Foregate

By: Ellis Peters
Narrated by: Vanessa Benjamin
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About this listen

 Christmas, 1141 A.D. Abbot Radulfus returns from London, bringing with him a priest for the vacant living of Holy Cross (known as the Foregate), a man of presence, scholarship and discipline, but neither humility nor the common touch. When he is found drowned in the mill-pond, suspicion is cast in many directions, not least toward a young man who came in the priest's train, sent to work in Brother Cadfael's garden. For he has little obvious priestly calling. Indeed, he soon attracts the friendship of a girl both beautiful and formidable.
To Brother Cadfael, once wordly, now dedicated, if gently cynical, is left the familiar task of sorting the complicated strands which define guilt and innocence.©1986 by Ellis Peters (P)1998 by Blackstone Audiobooks Mystery Traditional Detectives Detective Fiction
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The only real complaint I have is how Audible broke up the chapters of the recording. Instead of following the chapters of the book, Audible seems to have chopped it into sections of about 45 minutes, without regard to logical breaks. Story is great and narrator okay and it's a freebie (included in membership) so can't really complain.

Weird breakup of chapters

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This recording needs to be redone. It’s a great novel that is let down by the sound quality.

Very poor sound quality

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Ms Benjamin is an adequate reader, but, she should never try to characterise male voices. She was ponderous, so slow and heavy that is was hard not to increase the reading speed. Also there were several words mispronounced and because of her slow reading she placed emphasis in the wrong places in a sentence, several times. Why oh why do some readers insist on doing voice characterisations when they really have no talent for it.

No, not a female reader for Cadfael.

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Narrator did an excellent job of voicing so many and varied characters, and the author once again creates a vivid landscape of 12th century town and abbey life, political intrigue and intertwined personal dramas.

Plot twists and historical drama in spades.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.